I’ve found that the core muscle group is one of the most under-developed and overlooked muscle groups for football players today.

If you haven’t been deliberately training your core, I’m hoping that will change after you read this today.

Before I get into the benefits of core training, I want to first clarify a common piece of misinformation out there.

A lot of people think that your core is made up of only your abs, obliques, and lower back. This is not true.

Your core also includes the muscles that run up and down your back, along your spine, in as well as your hip flexors and glutes.

So without further a-do, here are the ways a stronger core can help you become more dominant on the football field:

1. Change of Direction Skills – You know those clips that make the Sportscenter Top 10 where a defender gets juked-out and looks silly?

Would you like to be able to do that? Of course you would.

The ability to change directions on a dime plays a major part in being elusive and shifty on the football field.

Strengthening your core can help you with your change of direction abilities.

2. Explosion – Who doesn’t want be more explosive? The more explosive you are, the faster your 40 time, and if you’re a football player, you know how important the 40 yard dash is.

3. Power – It’s believed that a stronger core will improve your overall power. Power is what will help you win more of those one-on-one collisions you’re sure to face on the football field.

Before your extremities begin to move, your central nervous system stabilizes your spine in anticipation for the movement.

It’s believed that the rate at which the core muscles stabilize the spine may have a direct effect on the power of limb movement.

Regardless of whether you’re a running back who wants to become more of a “power back”, or if you’re a defensive player looking to make more big hits, a stronger core can help you get where you want to be.

4. Improved strength in the weight room – Strength plays a major part in the amount of power you can generate on the field.

The stronger your core, the more weight you’re going to be able to lift.

Do you want to be known as one of the strongest players on your team? If you do, yet you’ve been neglecting your core muscles, you’re probably not lifting as much weight as you could with a stronger core.

5. Endurance – The stronger core helps improve the endurance of your core, which means that the stronger your core gets, the longer you’ll be able to maintain high levels of performance for all of the other attributes you read about in this article.

For example, you don’t want to just be powerful and explosive in the first quarter, you want to maintain that ability late into the fourth quarter too.

Since your core plays such an important role in these abilities, you want your core to retain that high level of strength for as long as you can.

6. Decreased Risk of Injury – You can’t make plays on the sidelines, so you should do everything you can to reduce your risk of getting hurt on the field.

While having a strong core won’t make you immune to getting injured, having a strong core can help reduce your risk to suffering lower-back pain and injuries.

As a former collegiate player that still experiences lower-back issues from time to time, trust me when I tell you that you want to take every precaution you can to prevent going through lower back issues.

7. Balance – You can’t make plays laying on the ground, so it’s in your best interest to work on your balance.

There’s not a place on the field where balance isn’t important, but it’s absolutely crucial for running backs and players along the line of scrimmage that experience contact nearly every play.

If you’re a running back or receiver, you know how important it is to be able to gain yards after contact.

If you want to improve your ability to gain yards after getting hit, you definitely want to improve your balance.

Although your equilibrium plays a huge part in your balance, staying up after contact relies on hip, ankle, and knee stability, along with strong core muscles.

8. Decreased risk of muscle imbalances – In a nutshell, muscle imbalances occur when muscles that work together are imbalanced in regards to size, strength, and/or flexibility.

These imbalances cause muscles to become overused as they try to compensate for the imbalances.

A very well-known and highly respected sports trainer said that he believed that nearly 65% of all human injuries are related to muscle imbalances.

9. Improved posture/overall athletic performance – Now with the other benefits mentioned in this article, like better change of direction abilities and power, it’s pretty obvious that having a strong core can help you become a better football player on the field.

But there’s another reason why a strong core can help you on the field, and that’s because of the benefits of having better posture.

Yep, posture.

Believe it or not, having better posture can improve your performance on the field.

The American Medical Athletic Association conducted a study and concluded that when you have improper amounts of pressure on your joints, spine, muscles, and/or nerves, your athletic performance will drop.

And as you guessed, a stronger core can prevent these “improper” amounts of pressure from being placed on these body parts.

So there you have nine ways working on your core can improve your performance on the field.

What’s next, is that you find a core workout, and get to work. It’s time to dominate!

Basketball game is full with excitements. However, many people do not like to play this game under the hot sun. Here comes the great idea. Mini basketball hoops are specially designed for basketball players who prefer to play the games indoor. Frankly speaking, many people have misunderstanding about mini hoops. In their point of view, these hoops are meant for young kids. In fact, this is not true. The mini hoops are suitable for everyone at all ages. In general, the sizes for mini hoops are relatively smaller. Most of them are adjustable. For your information, some mini hoops are created just for display purpose.

For people who have no idea about what mini hoops are, let me share with you some real facts about these products.

• First thing first, what are the ideal venues to place these small hoops? They can be placed at the basements, family recreation rooms, bedrooms, day care centers, classrooms, dormitories, offices, etc. Everybody can play this game at home or in the office without taking up much of the space. The most important is these hoops are portable. They can be fixed and removed easily.

• There are different types of hoops available in the market. However, not every hoop is suitable for you. There are simple versions and complicated versions of mini hoops. Those simple ones are suitable for office use. They come with plastics backboards and rims. You can hang them at the door. You can throw the foam balls as hard as you want without damaging anything in your office.

• On the other hand, some people may have different demands. They prefer more complicated replicas that resemble pro hoops. They like authentic basketballs with NBA goals. Sometimes, you may find it hard to get these products in the market. Some customized hoops with high quality backboards can only be found through internet. You need to place your order if you want it. You have to be prepared that the investment cost for getting this type of hoop is high. Generally, complicated hoops come with polycarbonate shatterproof backboards and steel rims.

• For young kids or beginners, you are recommended to get simple versions of hoops that feature only plastic backboards, rims and foam balls. They are cheap and easy to set up. You can easily fit them into your home sweet home as their maximum height is only 6 feet. To be frank, in order for the young kids to learn the basic principles of the game, getting them simple hoops is sufficient. Let them have fun before sending them to the real court.

I believe the above mentioned information is able to assist you to make your purchasing decision better. Since there are so many choices offered in the market, you are reminded to evaluate your personal needs carefully so that you can grab the right hoop for yourself.

QB Ryan Tannehill (Miami) – Tannehill lived up to expectations in 2014 and delivered for over 4,000 yards and 27 TDs against only 12 INTs. He was second to Lamar Miller in rushing and he now has three fine young receivers in Jarvis Landry, Ken Stills and DeVante Parker who will mesh with the talented quarterback. Additionally, the Dolphins added the veteran presences of Greg Jennings and new TE Jordan Cameron, so the Dolphins have plenty of weapons. Tannehill is in line for a 4,500 yard season, and considering you can get him in the ninth round; those are good dividends.

Also consider: Philip Rivers (San Diego), Carson Palmer (Arizona)

RB Latavius Murray (Oakland) – Murray was finally given an opportunity late last season and shined. He has great speed and vision to go along with a solid 6’3″ 230lb frame. The only threat he has to his Touches is Roy Helu catching passes out of the backfield, but Murray projects to be a workhorse this season and should put up nice numbers, especially if QB David Carr continues to improve with each game.

WR Charles Johnson (Minnesota) – Johnson really gelled with QB Teddy Bridgewater last year as Teddy became more comfortable as the starting QB. In the Vikings last 7 games; CJ tallied 25 catches for 415 yards and 2 TDs. With the addition of RB Adrian Peterson and WR Mike Wallace, I expect Johnson to have more room to run his routes and make many more plays than last year and many more big plays. Johnson has great size and an existing rapport with Bridgewater. Wallace is a bigger name but Johnson will have a bigger impact as is a steal in round 9 and beyond.

Also consider: John Brown (Arizona), Marques Colston (New Orleans)

TE Richard Rodgers (Green Bay) – Actually, Rodgers qualifies as more of a true Sleeper than merely under-valued. Earlier this summer, the concern about Rodgers was how often QB Rodgers would look his way, but, since the season-ending injury to WR Jordy Nelson, Rodgers becomes more of a factor in the offense as defenses key on WR Randall Cobb and Rodgers looks to a group of relatively unfamiliar targets in Davante Adams, Ty Montgomery and Richard Rodgers. He is definitely worth a late pick in deeper leagues.

Also consider: Jordan Cameron (Miami), Charles Clay (Buffalo)

D Minnesota Vikings – the Vikings defense played very well last season, especially after the offense began to perform better. The entire unit is young especially as the offense matured and stayed on the field longer each game. This unit is young and fast. The front four are not household names, at least not outside of the state, but Brian Robinson, Shariff Floyd, Linval Joseph, and Everson Griffen are collectively more talented than 75% of the defensive front four units in the league. They were weak in the secondary last season but the addition of rookie Trae Waynes will help motivate the unit into playing better or losing their spot to him.

There are plenty of Cash Fantasy Football Leagues open that will be drafting in the next 2 weeks at MFS. You can check the list of Open Fantasy Football Leagues and find one or more than suit your needs and put this advice to use! This list varies a bit from a list of Fantasy Football Sleepers as these players are expected to have a good season, but their Average Draft Position does not reflect how good of a season they will have compared to others at their position.

Basketball is a great sport for kids to play. It is safer, requires less physical prowess and is less complex than many other sports. It is true that it requires some depth perception and height is a key benefit, but it is a great choice at early ages, and giving your child the experience of playing a sport will be a memory they keep forever.

It is very common for autistic children to have little interest in sports related activities, for example, basketball. When they are very young, they often start out with some interest, and will join a basketball team. After some time, the child may loose interest in venturing out on to the basketball court, or eventually may not want to attend practices or games at all.

This can be very frustrating to parents, especially fathers or grandfathers that have fond memories of playing basketball and the life-long friendships they made being part of a team.

It is still possible for many autistic children, especially aspergers type, to have an interest and play basketball. What is important is that you do not have expectations that your child is going to follow of the traditional rules and expectations that most children do when joining a basketball team and learning the game.

In fact, you may have to consider strictly recreational non-team style play. If your child is not able to follow and focus on the instructions, and is not responding well to the coach or other players, it may be time to consider going a different route. It is much more important that your child is happy and feels accepted, especially by the parents than you being happy that your child is part of a basketball team.

If you find that the team style basketball play is not working, consider having a regular play at home, or at a local park. Be sure to give your child some time away from the sport before doing this as it may not be received well.

When your child starts to show some interest, be sure to keep things free-form. Do not worry about all the rules, skills, techniques and such. It is important to simply have the child enjoy the time spent with you, which happens to also be time spent holding and hopefully throwing a basketball.

You might simply try passing the ball back and fourth. Possibly bouncing the ball off a wall. Make some fun games such as try to dribble the ball three times in a row – if you succeed, the parent has to jump around like a silly frog!

Later you can slowly add little modifications such as a tip on how to pass the ball, or where to aim when throwing the ball for a layup. Again, take it slowly, and always make it positive. If you add criticism, or lots of rules, it is very likely your autistic child will loose interest quickly, and in fact may resent the sport completely.

Superstitions are part of most people life from ancient times. In moderns times the belief that a specific action determines the positive or negative outcome of a future event is more popular than ever.

When looking for a job, when taking an exam, on your wedding day, when moving to a new house and why not when playing an important football match and placing a bet.

Before talking about football betting superstitions you should know by now that even the football players have weird game day superstitions. Here are some 2012 football team captains that follow strange rituals and hope for good luck protection:

Steven Gerrard (born 1980) and the Liverpool players like to touch the, ‘This is Anfield’ sign in the tunnel on their way to the pitch. Steven Gerrard is captain of English team Liverpool and the England national team.

Iker Casillas Fernández (born 1981), most known as Iker Casillas, Spain’s football team captain and Real Madrid goalkeeper observes a ritual in which he touches his own crossbar whenever his team scores a goal.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (born 1985) or just Cristiano Ronaldo, the captain of the Portuguese national team and striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid, keeps a pre-match ritual of getting his hair cut for fear of jinxing his scoring run.

Like all people, football betting fans also have their own rituals and look for good luck signs before placing a bet.

When people get some money from a bet, they say that it was because the palm of their hand started itching or because they wear the favorite colored t-shirt on the betting event.

Some people believe they should step the right foot forward or to fill the betting ticket with the left hand. As regards good luck charms, silver is used by some people for sports bets.

Television is a major supernatural superstition element. There are some people that believe that they will not win a bet if they don’t watch the game, some of them turn the TV off momentarily and then turn it on, move to other channels, stop watching the game for a moment, all this for the hope that good things will happen for the team they bet on.

There a lot of more superstition that I could tell about, but I don’t want to jinx my bet on tonight game by telling you about my lucky red pijamas.

There are many reasons for wanting to find a pro-style system when preparing to purchase a basketball goal. These reasons are important to consider when checking out the various options and features offered by each manufacturer.

The Minimum Requirements for a Professional Basketball System

One of the primary reasons that people are interested in the pro-style basketball systems is because they, or their children, aspire to become professionals in the game. Of course, it only makes sense that a proper professional basketball goal is used in practice or training. For this reason, having a pro-style goal serves a greater purpose than just providing a sense of authenticity when shooting basketball hoops. While shopping around for the right system, be sure to check that the basketball goals being considered fulfill at least the minimum criteria to be considered ‘professional’. The standard features of a pro-style basketball goal should include:

Height adjustment mechanism to set the precise level of the basketball hoop;

Thick, sturdy padding around the post of the basketball goal;

Must meet American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for safety in basketball goal design.

The Bells and Whistles of a Basketball Hoop

The various basketball goal manufacturers offer numerous additional features that can make their system an even more desirable choice. Often, consumers find they prefer basketball hoops with special conveniences or key advantages when undertaking such a considerable investment. Some of these extra special features can include:

Motorized height adjustment;

Portability;

Nighttime basketball hoop lights

Easy do-it-yourself installation;

Guarantee of durability

Portability is a concept that many people generally do not associate with basketball goals. Most people assume that once they install their goal, it will at best add to the resale value of their home when they move because it will have to stay there. This is not always the case because some basketball goal manufacturers have designed the system to allow for portability. With many of these systems, the goal post footings are simply unbolted from the anchor installed within the concrete supporting the basketball hoop. Thereafter, the whole system, minus the old concrete and anchor, can be reinstalled at a new location. It is nothing more than a matter of pouring new concrete and laying in a new anchor for reinstallation.

Professional Basketball Hoops are not just for the Wealthy Pros

For many people looking to purchase a basketball goal, cost is often a consideration. The special features of pro basketball goals are obviously going to make them more costly than a basic portable or simplified residential system. The pro basketball hoops tend to range anywhere from around $700 to as much as $2,000 or more, with the higher-end goals including such options as motorized height adjustment and hoop lights. However, because many of them are designed for portability, an investment into a professional basketball system can be considered long-term, and worthwhile for individuals serious about their training.

Crisp fall days, the roar of the crowd, the aroma of the tailgate barbeques in the parking lot. If you can’t tell already, I am a football fanatic. I love the game, from my days playing in high school, to watching my favorite teams, to coaching and watching my two sons, I love everything about football.

So it’s little wonder that I see so many similarities between the way a great football team runs, and a great business. Football is the greatest team game, and successful businesses aren’t successful without great teamwork. Let’s look at five ways you can get your business working like the most successful football teams.

No football team, whether college or professional, gets anywhere on the field without first assembling a roster of top talent. Isaac Cheifetz, in “Hiring Secrets of the NFL”, points out that on every NFL football team, management has to know what the “true musts” of each position are. These are usually a variety of skills and behaviors. For instance, a quarterback must have great composure, awareness, and be calm under pressure. Likewise in the business world, an all-star salesperson must have great tenacity, communication skill, and professionalism.

Let’s compare the way top college and pro football teams select the talent for their roster with how your business select its talent. Professional football teams especially, put their prospective employees through exhaustive analysis and measurement in every way. They don’t just measure physical attributes, or experience but spend hours and hours interviewing candidates, their former coaches, teammates and other people with relevant input on their past behavior and performance.

How much time do you put into selecting new employees for your business? I’m sure you’re interviewing, and checking qualifications. But are you really going deep into what makes them any better or worse than other candidates. How extensive are your interviews? What assessment tools do you use to confirm your interview findings? How do you measure fit with your culture and environment?

Several years ago, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conducted a study on the habits of most hiring managers. They found that in large majority, over 65%, hiring decisions happened in the first 4.3 minutes of an interview. They also found that only 11% of these hires ever lasted more than 6 months with the company. Not a great track record.

Football is the greatest teamwork game. No other game that I’ve played before has been so dependent on every single player on the field. Each has to do their role exceptionally to have success. Not even the most physically gifted running back or quarterback can do well with an offensive line that takes too many plays off, or just doesn’t feel like working today.

I’ve had the good fortune of being able to coach youth football for many years, starting with kids as young as eight years old. It never fails that after the first game, the two or three players that actually moved the ball into the end zone for a touchdown immediately feel they suddenly did it all themselves. That doesn’t fly to well on my teams and they soon realize that they didn’t get there alone. Touchdowns happen because of all eleven men on the field (twelve if you play Canadian football).

How similar are our businesses? Do the salespeople who close the big sales really get there all by themselves? What about the great work being done by marketing, or the outstanding customer service representatives. And don’t forget about the production departments or engineers that create and produce the quality materials that generate great word of mouth for the sales team.

The very best football teams are those that have a lot of depth at their key positions. When a star player gets hurt, or traded, they have top quality talent all ready to step-up and take their turn being the hero.

A great example of this is the NFL’s Houston Texans. During the 2011 season, they had to cope with a season ending injury to their All-Pro quarterback. This was bad but they were fortunate to have an extremely capable second-string quarterback with lots of talent and great command of their offense. Three quarters of the way through the next game, the second-string quarterback was also lost to a season ending injury. However due to tremendous for-sight by team management, the Texans had drafted a rookie quarterback who was ideally suited to run the teams offense and they were able to not only make the playoffs for the first time, but also win the franchises first playoff game.

Your business also needs to expect who will be able to step up and fill key roles within your organization. Hopefully you won’t lose anyone to injury, but what about retirement, health issues, turnover and other changes? You can do a better job of determining what talents and skill your current employees have and how they are used in the future. Set up mentoring programs that will transfer the knowledge and experience of your key players to those who have the raw material for future success.

Strong leadership is a vital part of any successful football team. Every successful team has several key “field generals” that keep the team moving in the right direction. In fact, football teams always have a half-dozen or more captains that act as leaders on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. When I think of leaders on the football field, I think of Peyton Manning, Ray Lewis, Dan Marino, Mike Singletary and Warren Moon. Each of these players not only led during games but were notorious for inspiring their teammates to practice harder, study more and give their all in every situation. But never, did anyone ever outwork them. They always led by example.

Your managers and supervisors are the captains in your business. How engaged are they in the success and long-term future of your business? In fact, there are no other positions in your business that will more greatly affect the retention and development of high performing employees than managers and supervisors. People leave people not companies and your internal leaders are key to attracting and retaining the type of employees you need. As we talked earlier about recruiting, even the best recruitment efforts will be destroyed by poor leadership.

Which leads us to our last point. Outstanding football teams have powerful coaches and are constantly teaching and learning. The unexpected success of this years Super Bowl champion New York Giants shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as it seems. The Giants head coach Tom Coughlin is one of the game’s consummate teachers. He is known as someone who is completely dedicated to his players, helping them learn and develop their skill to their best ability.

How interested in our employees are we as a business owner or executive? Are we consumed with trying to help them improve their skill and ability or just going through the motions? Our key players will know. They’ll know if we are truly committed to helping them learn and develop their talents for their good, and the good of the business. Great coaches understand that it has to contain elements of both. Great leaders and managers seek a win/win approach to learning and development.

Like football, business is a team sport. The goal is to do more together than we ever could on our own and leverage the talents of employees for the benefit of customers, owners, and shareholders alike. And like football, when a team comes together in the boardroom everything becomes more fun. Hard work, long hours, pain and suffering all become an enjoyable experience out on the field with a group that you have bonded with and enjoy being with. Wouldn’t it be great if every day at work were like that too?

Basketball is the most popular indoor game played around the globe. And everyone is having fun watching intense play offs between two teams trying to beat each other. This is also an art which they considered as an air ballet. Indeed, this is the sport that players will astonish you with their high jumps while trying to twirl in the mid air to shoot the ball.

This sport is played between two teams, each of 12 player and a coach, with 5 players from each team allowed on the court at any one time: 2 forwards, 2 guards and a center. The team with the most number of points at the end of the game is declared as the winner. To get points the leather ball should be propelled through a basket. Two baskets are fixed on two backboards situated at the end of the court. The ball is moved by passing from one player to another or by dribbling it, never by kicking or by carrying it more than one and a half steps.

Moreover, violations committed by the players will be called by the referee. The game violations include personal fouls and illegal moves. 5 fouls disqualify a player from the game. And the coach can substitute the players on the bench for players who are disqualified, injured, or tired. At the same time the coach calls timeouts, advising the team on tactics on how to outsmart the opponents.

The goal of each team is to win the championship. And every spectator is thrilled to witness if what team will reach the finals in each season of NBA. National Basketball Association (NBA) is indeed the solid crowd drawing equivalent of professional leagues in other sports. And Clippers is one team that everyone should look out for. Clippers tickets are already in the market for purchased. Early bird promotion is offered so you can have your clippers ticket at a reasonable price. You can buy Clippers tickets online or at the nearest store.

The games schedule can be checked through the internet. Don’t miss the fun and take a glimpse of your favorite players live in court. Be there and enjoy!

Almost all people are fond of playing football. Needless to say, it is one of the most popular and widespread games of the youth. Sports specialists acclaimed that football players are the ones with the strongest extremities and very sound intellectual thinking. These may be some of the good things about football. After reading this article, you will certainly open your heart and mind to football and if you are already into this game, there is no doubt you will love it even more.

For you to standout in the game, a good player needs to execute and comply with the sets of standard routines. This necessitates you to have discipline, passion, and commitment in every thing you do. Bear in mind that workout is considered as one of the highly essential element as you get to start every game. After all, if you aspire for stardom and reach the peak of success being a football player then you must take into account many things, all at the same time. The good thing is, football can help you develop personally, and even assist you learn discipline and commitment.

When you are a football player, you need to develop endurance. Among other things to master, concentration is the topmost vital element. This is so because even a bit of alteration in your focus can eventually lead to failure in the game. Apparently, players develop and even increase their time of concentration especially when competitive game is on.

As of this time, the most popular football players around the globe have become the root of encouragement and motivation among the youth. When you get to play football, it will not just help you learn how to be competitive and efficient as a player, it even remarkably teach you the right and appropriate attitude to employ. Since the mechanics of the game include participation of teams, this game inculcates participation, unity and teamwork of the players in order to win any game. There is a need to communicate well with other members to come up with a better game plan and execute it right as planned.

While the game is going on, observing the right attitude is too imperative. As you play each and every game, you can work with the emotions which arise when you encounter the different faces of the match. It has been proven that players who carry wrong attitude and principle during his play consequently lose the game. Much more, even outside the game, having the right attitude towards things is something that everyone needs to bring with them. There is no doubt that football can also help you teach myriads of life lessons you that you certainly need.

In addition, not only that football can help you with the needed attitude to utilize. This game can actually aide you to achieve success in the real world since playing football teaches you sportsmanship where you rejoice for every win and genuinely accept every defeat and loss. Football then can help you condition yourself for any triumph and failure that you might encounter in your professional career and personal life.

Defense wins games, and one of the most exciting defensive plays you can make, is to block an offensive player’s shot. Blocking shots will force the opposing team to respect your defensive presence, and you will be able to create more scoring opportunities for your team.

Here are some tips to help you block more shots on the basketball court.

Increase Your Vertical Jump

When I was in High School I used to rely mostly on my athleticism to get blocks. At first I didn’t think much of it, but I realized that blocking shots will earn the respect of your teammates and your competition. The opposing team will think twice about throwing up a weak lay-up when you’re lurking around just waiting to send the ball to the other side of the court.

A high vertical jump allows you to get more blocks without having to focus too much on timing and patience. For the average guy, getting a block requires great timing and focus, but when you have hops, you can get blocks despite a lack of focus or timing.

When you can jump out of the gym, getting blocks becomes inevitable. As long as you take defense seriously, you will find yourself getting blocks left and right.

Timing/Patience

There are two ways to block a shot; in a 1-on-1 situation and in a help defense situation.

In order to get blocks in any of the two situations you need to have good timing. Good timing requires you to play disciplined defense and it requires you to be patient.

Don’t jump until the offensive player’s feet leaves the floor, or the ball leaves his hands. Don’t be a jumping machine, you can get blocks without jumping if you play good defense. I can’t tell you how many times I blocked somebody without even jumping.

Basketball rewards disciplined players who take defense serious, so if you want to get more blocks, you need to be patient and focused on defense.

Experience

Blocking shots requires you to anticipate what the offense is going to do. So basically, you need to be able to read and react to what the offense throws your way.

This means you need to get in the right place at the right time and rely on your past experiences and your opponent’s previous behaviors to dictate where you need to be in order to make a good defensive play.

Jump straight up and don’t lean towards the defender. After playing organized basketball for years, I realized that referees will call a foul almost automatically if you lean towards a defender as you jump up for a block.

The more experience you have the better. So, play 1-on-1 and lots of pick-up games and seek out opportunities to block shots and you will become a better shot blocker.